Nothing but a pretender
by EdgyBoi
Summary: Fem! Humanized! Lightning McQueen. Story set as Lightning only as a human woman hiding behind a male persona. Her mistakes and past follows her to the small town of Radiator Springs when she goes missing from the media and from public eye. Lightning learns how to make new friends while she still continues to hide under her persona, but for how long? Story remade with permission.
1. Chapter 1

_"Lightning McQueen, the youngest and most mysterious racer ever to race in the piston cup track rises as winner once again. Nothing is known about the rookie except his name, many theories and rumors about McQueen have been told but still he remains a mystery."_

 _"Oh he's such a hero, in fact he's my idol!" "He's my idol too! He's so fearless and cool!"_

 _"He's just a cocky, arrogant kid who's luck will run out eventually. I swear when that happens I'll prove that I'm the real winner!"_

 _"A few competitors such as Chick Hicks seem to hold some resentment towards McQueen, we'll have to see who's the best on the tracks with the next race upcoming in California where-"_

Lightning shut off the T.V. and groaned with annoyance, today was supposed to be a relaxing day to just kick back and loosen up on the couch. Still, it was hard with all these news reports about her, and her manager kept calling to tell her about what sponsors wanted to set up contracts with her. Then again, she shouldn't be watching the news anyways, she didn't even _like_ watching the news. Maybe it was the small twinge of satisfaction she got from seeing just how popular she got. This left her grinning with joy and satisfaction, suddenly her smile faltered and became a frown.

She wasn't popular, she wasn't well-known and idolized. _**Lightning McQueen**_ is. _**Lightning McQueen**_ is the one they all know, the one they all see not her. She sighed, she shouldn't resent him, after all she is him. Her eyes flickered towards her large bay window to gaze at the sunset, it had barely begun to set. The sky was a canvas with many different strokes of purples and pinks splattered across, her lips curled into deeper frown with disgust written across her face.

Her life is flawless, it's what everybody wanted and strives to live for. A large mansion with a gorgeous view of the ocean and sky, more money than she could spend with her being a millionaire and all and she's still earning more with each race she wins, she even has the fame as the youngest rookie as her official title. What was missing? What more could she possibly want?

A harsh voice she knew all to well whispered into her ears, it's cold words echoed into the silence. "What about a family? Real friends? What about love?" She flinched as if she had been slapped. She may as well have been.

It was true, she had none of those. Her eyes dulled and the colors of the setting sun looked faded to her now, she couldn't stand it. Her eyes were torn away and she slowly walked to her bedroom. She paused as she opened the door, a large spacious bedroom that was well furnished and very neat. Her bed was a large king size all for herself.

The silence left her ears ringing, there was no sound except for the light footsteps she took until she dropped heavily into her bed, hoping it would eat her up and she would never be heard from again.

But it didn't, she is still here alone in her home. Of course she would be lonely? Who wouldn't? She glared up at the wall, liars are the lonely ones. And she was one of the biggest liars around.

Lightning became a liar the day she left home at sixteen years old, she was angry and spiteful at her controlling parents. So she left, and she wandered the streets of L.A. wondering if she was going to survive to see the next day. That is until she came upon a flyer to test the skills of young people to see if they had it to become racers of the popular piston cup track.

It was a godsend and she instantly and easily beat all the other competitors of small time races and she rose up higher and higher until she made it, only _she_ hadn't. Her persona did. The fake part of her. McQueen.

She knew they wouldn't go for a woman racing, this was considered a man's race and the only way she was going to make it was to pretend for her part. And McQueen was then created.

Her hair is a pixie cut with dirty blonde locks and bangs that often get in her eyes, she has a small and soft smile that rests on her face when her mask is set into place and a cute button nose, her eyes are cobalt with flecks of bice blue, cream colored skin with light freckles splashed across her cheeks, height wise she's petite and a small body form which makes her very short compared to the rest of her competitors. Outside in the public she always wears her deep red and white racing jacket along with baggy jeans. To keep people from staring at her chest and finding out her secret she binds it with a custom made binder specially made to hide.

This is how she looked to everyone. But no one is here to see her real self. No one is here to witness the tears rolling down her cheeks and hear her sobs of sorrow. She cries for the life she really wanted, not the life she has. She'd give it all up to have someone understand. To care and love her, a family and friends, even a lover, all she wants is someone to hold her now and dry her tears.

Bitterly she remembers her parents, they never gave her any love. In fact they could hardly stand each other and herself. They constantly set up impossible bars she could barely succeed. No matter how much she tried it was never enough in their eyes. They wanted perfection out of her, and she is far from perfect. She snapped under her pressure and left, screaming at her mother for never trying with her. She fought with her father before she sprinted away and slammed the front door behind her for the last time, and she has never seen them since then.

She let herself break down and cry until she slept, in the morning she would wipe her face of tears and clean herself up, while building up her mask again until the next time it cracks.

 **. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

 **This is the first story of 'Pretender' and a remake of the introduction chapter and yes I do have permission from the original author who allowed me to adopt this story. Don't own Cars, hope you enjoyed and until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

Lightning groaned quietly into her pillow, the light streaming into her room woke the young racer, she yawned while stretching and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Blearily she glared at the sunlight peaking through her curtains, groggily she sat up and threw her legs to the side of the bed. Her feet dangled inches away from the floor and she got out of bed.

Shivering from the lack of warmth her bed provided she quickly made a beeline straight for her bathroom for a much needed hot shower. She barely glanced at her reflection, she didn't need the mirror to see how exhausted she was. Nearly a half hour later she left her bathroom dressed with clean clothes and damp hair, feeling more refreshed and awake Lightning left her room to go into the kitchen, it was downstairs through the foyer and down the hall into her glamorous dining hall/kitchen.

She paid it no attention and simply peeked around until she caught sight of the fresh red apples in a bowl, she picked up one and looked it over before taking a bite. Having breakfast was never her thing, but she was feeling a bit hungry so this would do.

Today she would be leaving with Mac, her personal driver and a mother hen, they would be traveling over night to Lightning's next race in California. She went past her foyer again to found her living room filled with lavish furniture. She plopped down on the couch and turned on her T.v. she till had a little bit of time to kill until Mac came to pick her up. She continued nibbling on her apple while flipping through channels trying to find something decent to watch.

She paused when a popular show came on, the words that were being said had caught her attention so she waited to hear more.

 _"Of course we care about you, you're our friend."_

 _"But...I lied, I kept secrets from you. I don't deserve to be your friend."_

 _"Please, everyone has a few secrets but what matters is that you cared enough to tell the truth."_

She turned off the T.v. once again, she felt a bit hollow after hearing that. She didn't have any friends, it stung a bit but she couldn't keep mulling over it when the doorbell chimed loudly in her ears. Lightning quickly threw the apple away in the trash and she stood in the foyer. A mirror next to the door reflected her mask, she looked to see if everything looked normal, after deeming everything was fine she pulled open her door and smiled brightly at Mac. Mac was a tall man with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked menacing but he was very kind and happened to be a big mother hen to Lightning.

"Hey Mac, ready to go?" Mac nodded.

"Yup, we got your car in the back and all of your suit cases are packed and ready too." Lightning pulled her door close behind her and locked it behind her when Mac began asking her concerned questions. "Did you eat breakfast? Did you get a full night's sleep, I don't want you staying up all night and being too tired to even stay awake again. Lightning laughed softly rolling her eyes.

"Yes I ate a very big breakfast and I got a full night's sleep." He gazed at her critically and Lightning sighed in amusement. "I'm alright, really. I'm ready to go and win some trophies." Mac kept a watchful eye on her for a bit after that but after Lightning's reassurances that she is fine he stopped, for a few minutes at least.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The first race was starting in fifteen minutes and the racers were hovering near the track and socializing with each other until then. Lightning was hanging around away from the other racers to cool down her nerves. If she won this race she'll get to the finals at a different location farther up in California and it'll take a whole night and morning to get there, she felt like a nervous wreck with anxiety and high hopes she'll win.

"Hey there rookie, you nervous?" The King said, he was DinoCo's best sponsor and Lightning wanted to stay on his good side for when he retired. He was older than Lightning, taller too with platinum white blond hair. He had a calm and collected expression and an air of confidence radiating from him, Lightning noted that he had ocean blue eyes. His voice was deep which Lightning envied a bit. Her voice was forced to be lower and on a few occasions it led to her losing her voice.

"A little bit, just hoping I can make it to the finals y'know." Lightning shrugged. "Trying to get some fresh air before the race." King nodded in agreement.

"Ah, I get what you mean, can be a bit crowded down here." King spoke, "Don't worry kid, I know you've got what it takes. You're one of the best and skilled rookies we've had on these tracks in a long time." Lightning's face tinged pink at the compliment.

"Y-yeah, although Chick Hicks seems to think otherwise." King grinned.

"Don't let him get to you, he's all bark with no bite." Lightning laughed at that. Silence fell over the two and King opened his mouth to speak again but a group of pit crew came rushing by and stumbled into the two of them. The crew continued moving and a member sheepishly yelled, "Sorry."

Lightning was pushed into King and the two fell ungracefully to the floor with Lightning on top of him. She flushed red with embarrassment and scrambled to her feet, her eyes avoided looking at King when he offered her hand to pull him up. King however, stared in amazement at Lightning, unknown to Lightning she had yelped and her real voice broke through revealing her true self to him.

"I'm sorry. I- didn't realize that you were- that you're a woman." Her blue eyes snapped open and she watched King with fear flooding through her veins.

"P-please tell no one! I didn't- I-" Panic seeped through her soft feminine voice and her breath seemed to leave her gasping for air.

"Hey- hey. You're okay, I'm not going to tell anyone. I swear." King said slowly, he stood up and hoped he wouldn't scare off the frightened woman in front of him. "Just breathe, I promise I won't say a word about this." Lightning struggled to catch her breath and she took slow agonizing breaths. Her eyes were pooled with tears and her mask broke again.

"I'm sorry." King blinked.

"It's fine, are you okay?" Lightning gave a sharp nod, she wiped her tears away and felt angry at herself for crying. King reached out and squeezed her shoulder gently. Lightning tensed but she shakily relaxed.

"King?" His wife called out suddenly, "Where are you, the race is starting in a few minutes!" King debated between staying to make sure Lightning was okay or get back to his wife. Lightning could sense this.

"I'm fine, go. I'll be okay." King stared for a few seconds before disappearing to get back to his wife and she let out a sigh. She rubbed at her eyes once more and took a few deep breaths. Then she perfected her mask of confidence and walked back to the track with false confidence. Not that anyone could tell.

She made it to her car's spot and leaned against it, she felt eyes watching her and knew that King was staring at her in a new light. She ignored his watchful gaze and she instead looked around taking in her surroundings. The entire arena was filled with people watching her and she can tell who her fans were with the sea of red and yellow jersey's and fan made souvenirs.

"Don't cry too much when you lose, McQueen." Chick Hicks mocked, he had black hair buzzed cut and a large mustache. He was quite an arrogant and cocky racer who's hated Lightning the moment she stepped into the track. His crew hovering near him started laughing raucously and so did a few of the other racers as well.

"You shouldn't be so confident, I've managed to beat you in every race we've been in and I'll keep winning." She smirked at the angry glare Hicks gave her, he seemed to be at a lost of words and the other racer's who've watched them started laughing hard.

"Kid's right you know." King added in, Hick's looked murderous at this point, because this only made everyone around laugh harder. Because what King said was like the laws. And knowing that King supported Lightning in this little battle left everyone in stitches. Everyone knew that Hicks was trying to become DinoCo's newest sponsor.

"Shut up, he's just a kid who got lucky. His luck will leave him eventually." Lightning scoffed, that's the thing he's ever said about Lightning when he knew he was losing an argument. She couldn't make a retort in time when the warning whistles sounded through and all the racers got into their cars. Lightning felt confident she'll beat Hicks in this race as well. She'll prove that she is just as a good racer as him, in fact she'll be even better than him.

. . . . . .

 _"Breaking News, young racer Lightning McQueen has gone missing on his overnight trip. Currently the police are taking in people who were seen with McQueen the same day. More news coming in after this break._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review of your thoughts.**


	3. Chapter 3

A pounding headache was what woke up Lightning from her slumber, though everything in her room felt...off. Her bed felt thin and the frame was making her body sore, the blankets and sheets felt ugly and scratchy on her skin. She sat up on her bed blinking her blue eyes several times before she really saw her surroundings. Dread seeped through her as her eyes darted around the room frantically wondering how she ended up in a small dingy white hospital room, she figured it was one with the cupboards with glass casings to show different types of medical bandages and so and there was a rack of heart monitors being unused in the corner. The wall paper was a faded white and pretty old that it was peeling. The amount of dust visibly floating in the air from the streams of sunlight that shone in through the thick old windows made her wrinkle her nose in slight disgust. The floor was grey cement with cracks protruding in random spots.

She quickly retraced her steps and her mind went hazy then blank. She couldn't remember how she could've gotten here. Speaking of here, at the wall opposite of her had a lighter shade of grey metal door, figuring she could get up and look for someone who could give her some answers as to why she was here. Lifting the blanket and pushing them off, she threw her legs to the side and attempted to stand up but she hissed in pain when something around her wrist tightened and kept her from moving forward. Lightning had to do a double take at the sight of the handcuffs locked onto her wrist and the bed's metal frame.

 _"Oh, boy. Where am I?"_ Lightning muttered absentmindedly, her voice was shaky and revealed how nervous she felt, she gently massaged her wrist to alleviate the pain the cuffs made.

 _"Mornin' sleepin' beauty!"_ An unfamiliar male voice chirped suddenly. Lightning let out a scream and fell back into the bed. She pushed herself back from the laughing man standing in front of her out of nowhere. He was tall, lanky, a messy haired brunet with brown eyes full of childish mirth. He wore old blue faded overalls and a murky brown shirt and ratty old tennis shoes. He gave out another bark of laughter at Lightning's expression. _"Boy, I was wonderin' when you was gonna wake up."_

Lightning watched the man cautiously, he must've been here this whole time watching her and she didn't realize it until now...she bit her lip in frustration. More questions kept popping up and none of them were getting answered.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Why am _I_ here?" Lightning asked quickly in one breath. The man quirked a brow up with a smile gracing his lips.

 _"You're funny. I like you already. My name's Mater."_

"Mater." She repeated.

 _What's your name?"_ Mater introduced himself. Lightning opened her mouth to introduce herself when she paused, could she trust this man? She had no idea where she was even at. If she was even safe here from Mater. Lightning was without her racing jacket, she didn't know where it was at and she felt exposed and naked, she pulled the covers back up to her chest and began thinking.

"You don't know my name? I'm Lightning. Lightning McQueen." Her chest swelled with pride towards her racing career. It took a while but she loved the thrill of racing and knowing that she was famous for her skills and age. When Mater didn't seem to know who she was Lightning felt ticked off but didn't blame him. Watching races wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

Speaking of racing, she had to get to LA Cali for the finals. Mentally she tried relaxing, she had time before the race, more than enough time. In fact she had Mac had left a week before the race. Lightning wanted to get there early to have time to practice and explore LA once again. After all, it had been years since she came back to her hometown...maybe she could try seeing her parents... No. It would be pointless thinking she could go back to them. She was fine without them, she didn't need to depend on anyone and that's the way it was.

"I need to get to Cali, I'd like to get there as soon soon as I can please. Where am I?" She questioned. Mater perked up happily.

"Where are you? Shoot! You're in Radiator Springs. The cutest little town in Carburetor County." Mater boasted, she blinked. That's an oddly car themed name for a town. She brushed the thought away and focused on the present.

"Well that's um, great. Really great." Mater grinned toothily.

 _"If you think that's great, you should see the rest of the town."_ He chatted, if Lightning didn't know any better she would've thought she'd think this was a normal conversation in a normal place. Not in some dingy clinic room where she still didn't have a clue as to how she got there. An idea popped into her head, Mater seemed a little gullible and perhaps she could get him to take her handcuffs here. There was a chance he could have the keys, otherwise why else would the man be there for?

"You know," She started, "I'd love to see the rest of the town! So if you could just let me out, and take these handcuffs off, you and me, we could go cruisin' and check out the local scene."

 _"Dad-gum!"_ Mater whistled.

"How'd that be?" Lightning hoped her coaxing worked. This room was starting to make her feel suffocated and trapped.

"Sounds cool." He took a few steps closer to Lightning when the grey door swung open and an older man in his late thirties walked in. His stance demanded respect and Lightning subtly sat up straighter. She noted that Mater did as well. The man, or policeman. He wore the typical dark blue police uniform with the hat covering his dark brown hair, streaked with grey from his age. He had a gruff voice, black eyes, and a large mustache that would put Chick Hicks to shame.

 _"Mater!"_ He barked, _"What did I tell you about talkin' to the accused?"_ Mater rubbed the back of his neck and kept his gaze downwards to the floor.

 _"To not to."_ Mater muttered.

"That's right. Now come on, help me clean this delinquent up for his trial."

"Trial? I can't even remember why I'm here!" Lightning cried out, the officer met her gaze and sized her up from her spot.

"Joy ridin' and causin' hell at the crack of dawn, nearly killin' yourself too. That's what you did." The older man said, Lightning nearly scoffed. There was no way she would've done any of this. Her car was with Mac, and she didn't even know where Mac was. Just what even happened to land her here?

"I don't remember doing any of that."

"Well you did, we all saw you crash your car." Mater butted in, Lightning's eyes turned on him and she sighed heavily.

"My car shouldn't be here, _I_ shouldn't be here. I don't even know where _here_ is. How far are we from Cali?" The officer gave her an odd look.

"You look like you're sixteen kid, act like it too. You must've drank more than you could handle if you can't even remember the chaos you started."

"Drinking!? I don't drink. Ugh, nevermind. When is my stupid trial?" Lightning rubbed at her temples, the faster the trial the faster she could pay her fine or whatever she had to pay and she could leave this confusing place.

"Right now if you quit you're bellyaching." Lightning narrowed her blue eyes.

"Fine." She said, "Get me out of these cuffs so I can leave." She huffed.

 **Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review of your thoughts. Words that I pulled from the movie has been put in italics cause ya know I don't own Cars and all that and I don't wanna get sued. I'm going along with the movie now, but I want to add in my own scenes and make Lightning less cocky and outgoing. She's more introverted as herself but as McQueen then she'll be in her arrogant and cheeky self.**

 **Thank you all _so much_ for your support and kind words they mean a lot to me. I'm working on making the next chapter longer to make up for this really late and short ones. Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

_"Maaaac!" Lightning hiccuped, she was slumped over in her bar-stool drunk as can be. A whiskey bottle in one hand with a shot glass in the other filled to the brim with whiskey. She giggled and held the cup close to Mac, the liquid sloshing around in it's tiny compressed space and trickles of it spilled out. Mac watched Lightning carefully with concern, yes he_ had _suggested they get a drink to sooth the racer's nerves and just relax. He didn't suggest they get drunk, well he wasn't drunk at all. In fact he's hardly drank anything at all compared to the amount Lightning has been drinking. He never really expected Lightning to drink this much, he thought the younger man would decline his offer and he was surprised to say the least when he didn't. He shook his head and Lightning pulled the shot glass away from him whilst pouting._

 _"Kid, I think you've had enough." Mac said lightly as to not anger the younger of the two, Lightning gave him an amused expression with her eyes swimming with excitement for what he didn't know. "I'd say I haven't had enough." Lightning wanted to say clearly, when in reality she slurred every word to where Mac could only understand 'haven't and enough' just barely. Mac sighed, the small shabby bar only had the bartender and a few other men drinking away, talking to themselves or watching a football game on a small T.V. with faded colors. The atmosphere was quiet except for Lightning laughing rowdily and spinning herself in her bar-stool side to side with a big grin on her face._

 _"Hey there man, could ya tell y'ur girlfriend to quiet down? Some people want to watch the game." One of the bar men said, the man was seated only a few stools away from Mac and Lightning Mac turned to glance at Lightning before looking at the man in question who looked at Lightning with a strange glint in his eyes. Mac narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the man and shifted his body to block Lightning from the man's view._

 _"He's not my girlfriend pal, besides he's not being that loud."_

 _"Yeah well to her to keep her trap shut anyway, people might get the wrong idea about her." The man snapped. Mac felt ticked off about the man's attitude and lack of respect for his friend. He inhaled slowly and exhaled just as slow to calm him down. He didn't want no fights and it was time to be getting back to their hotel. Mac turned back away from the man to look at Lightning with a single thought in his mind. Why would that man think Lightning is a woman._

 _As Mac looked he realized, he wasn't there anymore, thought suddenly gone when realization sunk in. He stood up quickly and looked around the room searching for Lightning to no avail. The young racer was simply gone! As if he was never even there in the first place!_

 _"Lightning?" Mac called out, he was given more annoyed looks as he continued to call out Lightning's name hoping that the racer will pop out from where ever he seemed to have gone off too._

 _Dread filled his senses when he heard the familiar sound of a roaring engine coming to life outside of the bar, without paying the tab the barman had placed out Mac sprinted outside to see Lightning's famous red race car drive off of it's resting place on Mac's now open semi truck, the car swerved off and on the dusty road old road. Mac was stunned, Lightning was going to himself killed driving recklessly and drunk! Reaching into his pockets to find his now missing truck keys Mac knew things were going south very quickly. Lightning was drunk driving in his race car, Mac's keys were gone and he didn't know how to get out of this situation he was currently stumped in._

. . .

 _'Oh my lord I remember now! I left Mac! I left Mac at the bar how could I be this stupid!?'_ Lightning thought in horror as memories she had trouble comprehending came flooding in, she didn't even remember where the bar was at. What the condition of her car was in. Or more importantly, where Mac was and if he was still stranded in a different city or state.

With handcuffs tightly fitted over his wrists, Lightning walked forward confidently through the court houses doors to be met with the hostility of the townspeople she must've pissed off the night previous. There were different people simply yelling at her, calling her dangerous idiot or other words similar. There was disgust, dismay and distrust written all over these peoples faces, plastered on like a mask. Though Lightning didn't let them get her down, she was sure she would most likely pay a fine and they would kick her out. She had plenty of money to get out of this situation, once she got out of here she will find the nearest modern civilization away from this hill billy type of town and get a hold of Mac and pray that he wasn't furious at her even though he had every right to be. Things would be okay, soon she'll be on her way to Cali once again for the final race.

She was sure of it.

Or that is until when the judge walked in.


	5. Chapter 5

"May Doc have mercy on your soul." The sheriff said directly to Lightning, mirth a lit in his aged eyes as if he took humor in Lightning's predicament. Lightning didn't understand why spoke so ominously. It was almost chilling to the bone to hear. It made her want to laugh. She probably crashed into a curb or something, not commit mass murder.

Inside the court room where Lightning assumed the entire town had attended today, she didn't need to see the rest of the town to know that it was near desolate. Taking a glance outside of the dusty, dirty windows Lightning could see an endless stretch of desert.

Lightning sat in an old oak chair that squeaked and if she moved slightly, it would wobble annoyingly. Her arms were pressed flat against her chest, though it was to keep a secure pressure onto her chest. It had been more than eight hours and Lightning was worried. It was somewhat hard to breathe, like the binder was only tightening around her chest, but hopefully she wouldn't have to wait much longer until she was free to go. It was her against everybody here, well except for Mater. The gullible, silly man seemingly with a big heart had gladly offered to be her lawyer for this crackpot court case. "Is that a threat-" The racer had started with narrowed eyes, only to be interrupted by a loud bang that caused her to jolt in her place.

The entrance to the courthouse had two large doors that swung open and an exhausted, older man came storming into the room. Despite his age, he looked like he was fired up and fueled by anger and spite.

" All right, I wanna know who's responsible for wreckin' my town, Sheriff. I wanna his head on a platter! I'm gonna put him in jail till he rots! No, check that. I'm gonna put him in jail till the jail rots on top of him, and then I'm gonna move him to a new jail and let that jail rot. I'm..." The man grumbled loudly as he walked right past Lightning as if he didn't notice her presence and kept walking straight towards the judge's podium.

Turning her head to glance at the townspeople, Lightning had concluded that this man was crazy and so were the people here, seeing as they didn't even bat an eye at his odd angry ranting. Hearing this man, she assumed to be Doc made her only want to get out of here faster. Doc stopped talking when he took a look at Lightning, his almond blue eyes swept up then down Lightning, as if to stare her down and judge her. "Throw him out of here, Sheriff. I want him out of my courtroom. I want him out of our town! Case dismissed."

Euphoria flooded through her senses at his words. This was it? She didn't need to pay any fines? No community service or even jail time? She let out a "Yes!" As she sighed in relief. Things were starting to finally look up into the clouds. More loud bangs and the two heavy doors burst open and a sharply well dressed woman stepped into the court room, where everybody's gaze including Lightning's, had focused onto her.

"Sorry I'm late, your honor."

With these words. Lightning could just feel something shift in the air, as if her luck in the clouds had suddenly became a storm of bad luck, raining down on what little success she had in escaping this town.


End file.
